Caught Up in a Game
by Kate Marley
Summary: July 1870: There is a moody France in her casino. Monaco is annoyed. And mildly worried. Written for Baguette.


"Miss Monaco ... please, he is scaring away the other guests!"

The manager was whispering, indicating a familiar young man with tousled, chin-length hair and piercing blue eyes. Angélique sighed. This was going to be complicated. Taking a glass of red wine from the tray of the waiter that just so happened to pass by, she walked over to François and leaned against the table at which was sitting.

 _Why the hell are you here?_

No, that would have been far too impolite. He was a valued customer, after all. One that was prone to leave quite a sum at her casino if she proceeded with enough caution. She settled for a different approach.

"François, my dear," she began. The words were empty. He wasn't her dear; not anymore. "What brings you here to me tonight?"

François looked up from the money and the chips he had been placing on the table, announcing another _jeu zéro_ to the croupier. Angélique noticed a white lily at the lapel of his dapper black frock; always the elegant Frenchman, at least for as long as it was convenient to him.

"I was planning to go on holidays on the Côte d'Azur," he said without introduction. "Turns out I won't get any holidays anytime soon, so I thought I might as well spend my money here."

 _There's something wrong with your reasoning,_ she thought.

"Why don't you just go on holiday later, dear?" she said out loud, taking a sip from her wine.

The ball fell in the _tiers du cylindre,_ right opposite the _jeu zéro_ section of the roulette wheel. The croupier raked the chips François had placed away from him. He didn't even blink.

"I don't think I'm going to get another chance for a leave anytime soon," he said grimly. "There will be war."

"Oh, darling, you've been saying so for four years—"

"So you don't know yet," François cut her off. "But you'll learn about it soon."

She glared at him. He knew very well how much she hated to be interrupted.

 _Would you, please, kindly tell me what the hell is going on?_ Angélique was running out of patience, and quickly. It was always women who got accused of speaking far too much without getting to the point. _Unfair._ So far, she had perceived that kind of behaviour much more frequently in men.

"There has been a disagreement between our ambassador and the Prussian king," he said at last.

" _Your_ ambassador," Angélique couldn't stop herself from pointing out. She didn't know if the plural had indicated him and her or simply the French government, but she wasn't taking any chances. It needed to be absolutely clear that there was no "we" between her and François any longer.

Except for the customs union. And the railway line they shared. But those were good things; good for her economy and good for her casino. Those exceptions were acceptable.

"The Prussians claim our ambassador insulted their king," he continued, ignoring her interjection. "Actually, it seems more likely to me it was the other way round. Our ambassador simply asked him to withdraw the Hohenzollern candidate for the Spanish throne. The Hohenzollern family has no business in Spain in the first place, so it seems only fair to me to make them promise to withdraw and not to make another claim."

Angélique raised her eyebrows; just for an unnoticeable millimetre. François had never been good at noticing what others like them would consider acceptable and what was unacceptable to them. Thankfully, the country that had shaped the language of diplomacy like no other had _actual diplomats_ to do the job for him. Who weren't always successful, as it seemed.

"I am astonished every time I remember Prussia, Spain and you had been friends sometime," she commented.

 _I am astonished every time I remember the two of us had been lovers sometime,_ she thought.

"It was only for a short while," François pointed out.

"Yes," she said, sounding a little melancholic. "Only for a short while." She was thinking about François, not about Prussia or Spain.

It hadn't been that short, even. But there had to be an end to it, and now that she had finally achieved independence from _all of them,_ there was no way of going back. _No protecting powers anymore,_ she had vowed to herself. Just her, Monaco, standing on her own two feet at last.

"Angé?" François said into her thoughts. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I should save my money for a holiday after the war." He smiled tentatively. "After my victory."

"That sounds good," she told him. "I wish you all the best." Inwardly she frowned. _After my victory._ That was something she would only say if she was absolutely sure it would happen, and even then she would have seen it as a statement that might conjure bad luck. But if it made him go; if it made the gloomy customer that deterred the others leave...

"Do you really?" There was a melancholy smile on his lips. "I'm sure you wish there wasn't any war. War is bad for your business." Angélique thought of her casino and shrugged.

"That's true," she admitted. "No need to pretend otherwise." She made a pause. "But I honestly wish you good luck."

He hugged her. She was fairly sure it was a spontaneous gesture, but it still felt oddly calculating.

"Thank you," he said, and she knew the exact moment when the thought to kiss her crossed his mind. His hands on her hips wandered lower, touching the transition from her back to her butt, and he pulled her a little tighter.

"Good luck, François." She pulled away, feeling a spark of regret. That was what made her cave, just a tiny bit. "Maybe come back later? After your victory."

"Yes," he promised. "After my victory."

* * *

 **Notes:**

The title of this fic refers to lyrics of the song _Roulette_ by Bon Jovi ("Roulette you're goin' round in a spin / Caught up in a game you can't win").

On 13 July 1870, a diplomat informed Otto von Bismarck, then Minister President of Prussia, about a private conversation between the French ambassador Vincent, Count Benedetti and King William I of Prussia in a dispatch from Bad Ems. In this talk, Benedetti had asked William to order the Hohenzollern candidate for the throne of Spain to withdraw and never to renew his candidature. Subsequently, Bismarck issued a press release that made it sound as if Benedetti had insulted the king, first printed in a pro-government newspaper on that same day. In contrast, the sentiment among the French public was that Benedetti's request had been just, and that the Prussian king had insulted Benedetti. The Ems Dispatch was the immediate cause that sparked the Franco-Prussian War … and led to a temporary closure of the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco (from 6 September until 1 December 1870).

In 1848, the cities of Menton and Roquebrune declared themselves independent from Monaco and became protectorates of the Savoy Prince. They had demanded less taxation and a constitution that gave more rights to the citizens of Monaco. The two cities were ceded to France after a plebiscite in 1861. Prince Charles III of Monaco recognised this in the Franco-Monégasque Treaty of 2 February 1861 in exchange for full sovereignty: Monaco lost over 80% of its territory, but it was no longer the protectorate of another country. In the years that followed, it experienced an economic boom, especially when Monte Carlo Casino became profitable due to a customs union with France (1865) and the establishment of a railway line with a stop in Monaco (1868).


End file.
